For gaseous fuel burners



Nov. 7, 1950 w. E. M CORQUODALE 2,529,259

THERMQSTATIC SAFETY CONTROL APPARATUS FOR GASEOUS FUEL BURNERS FiledSept. 9, 1947 I m L o N INVENTOR WILMER E. MO CORQUODALE Patented Nov.7, 1950 UNITED sTAT s PATENT OFFICE I THERMOSTATIC SAFETY CONTROL APPA-RATUS FOR GASEQUS FUEL BURNERS Wilmer ELMcQorquodale, Orange, Tex.

Application September 9, 1947, Serial No. 772,989

2 Claims. (o1.15s 117.1)

whenever gas is admitted thereto; and these de-- vices generally includemeans for automatically shutting ofi the flow of gas to the main burnerwhenever the pilot light becomes extinguished, in order to prevent orminimize release ofgas to the atmosphere with resultant, hazard ofexplosion. Many of these devices, however, areso designed as to permitcontinued leakage of gas through the pilot burner even though the flowof gas to the main' burneris shut off. While variousarrangements have.been proposed for.

stopping the gas flow to both the mainburner andpilot burner, thesegenerally have the disadvantage of being relatively complicated" andexpensive.

It is an object of this invention to provide a simple and inexpensivegas burning apparatus adapted to shut off the flow of gas to the mainburner and pilot burner simultaneously whenever the pilot light becomesextinguished.

One specific embodiment of the invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of the gas burning apparatus;

Figure 2 is a sectional elevation taken generally on the line 22 ofFigure 1; and

Figure 3 is a more detailed view of the pilot shut-off valve taken onthe line 33 of Figure 2 with a section of the valve broken away to showinternal details.

Referring now to the drawings, the numeral ll] represents a main gasburner having a plurality of gas jets l l Gas is supplied to the mainburner through inlet line l2 which is screwed into the bottom of theburner. The inlet to the burner It! includes a constricting portion I3which provides a valve seat I4 adapted to cooperate with a valve plug I5to shut off the gas from the main burner l whenever the valve plug is incontact with the valve seat as shown in Figure 2. Valve plug is attachedto valve stem I6 which extends upwardly above the burner through abushing I! which is screwed into the top of the burner at its, center.adapted to permit the valve stem IE to slide up or down as the valveopens or shuts.

Burner I0 is provided with an upwardly projecting shouldernl8 which maybe an integral part of thebody of the main'burner, as shown, in thedrawings. A bimetallic thermostatic element I9 is securely mounted onthe shoulder l8 as by means of screw 20, and extends radially inwardtoward the center-of the burner and is connected to the upper end of thevalve stem I6 in an suitable manner.

of the, valve stem I6 and may be mechanically. connected thereto bymeans of an extension arm 2| which is'attached to thermostatic elementIS; in any suitable manner. Extension arm 2! may be movably connected tothe top of valve stem [6 by providing a grooved portion at the end ofthe arm to intermesh with a grooved portion of the valve stem as shownat 22.

A'pilot burner 23 'is mounted on. main burner l8 directly beneath thebimetallic thermostatic element l9. If desired, a U-shaped shield 2imayv be provided between the pilot, burner andthe thermostaticelementto keep the pilot-flame from coming into direct contact with thelatter. Gas is supplied to the pilot burner 23 by means of a small gassupply line 25 having a valve 26 therein for shutting off the flow ofgas. The gas line leading to pilot burner 23 also desirably includes aconstricting portion, shown at 32, which restricts the rate of flow ofgas therethrough to a small amount at all times.

Various known types of valves will function satisfactorily as the pilotgas valve 26 and any suitable type may be selected. The valve Shown inFigure 3 is illustrative. This valve is designed to be in closedposition when the valve plug and stem are in their lowermost position,as shown in Figure 3. A compression spring 33 tends to force the valveplug and stem downward and thus normally to keep the valve closed. Valve26 is mechanically connected to a movable portion of the thermostaticelement !9 by'means of a rod 2'! having an arm portion 2%} forconnection with the valve by insertion through its handle portion 30.Rod 27 is threaded at its upper end for receiving adjusting nuts 29.

As illustrated in the drawings, both the main burner valve and the pilotgas valve are in closed position. In order to light the pilot burner,the handle portion 30 of the pilot gas valve may be manually pushedupwardly, thereby opening the Bushing H is.

As shown in Figure 2, thethermostatic element proper may terminate shortvalve and admitting gas to pilot burner 23 which a element 19 willremain in its upward position until such time as the pilot light becomesextinguished. Whenever this happens,- thermo-- downwardly to the lowerposition, thereby si 4 to close the valve and thereby shut off the flowof gas to the main burner upon extinguishment of the pilot light, meansfor supplying gas to said pilot burner, a valve operatively associatedtherewith for shutting off the gas flow and including resilient meansconstantly urging the valve toward closed position, said valve beingdisposed beneath a movable portion of said thermostatic element, and a;vertically positioned rod extending from said last-named valve andconnecting slidably with a movable portion of said thermostatic element,said rod being engageable V 'with'the thermostatic element when thelatter static element 59 will cool and thereupon flex multaneouslyclosing the main burner valveand" I scribed gas burning apparatuswithout departing.

from the scope of the invention. The invention is therefore notnecessarily limited to. specific details disclosed herein. Havingdescribed my invention, what I claim and desire to protect by Letters1?ate'nt'is:

1. A gas burning apparatus comprising a main gas burner including ahollow body member having a gas inlet located centrally thereof andadjacent its base, a valve seat at said inlet,'a valve plug cooperativewith said valve seat for shutting off the flow of gas to the burner whenthe valve is closed, a securing nut positioned on the upper portion ofthe body member directly above said valve seat, a valve stem extendingfrom said valve plug through said securing nut and slidably mountedtherein, a pilot burner positioned to light the main burner, abimetallic thermostatic element above the pilot burner extending fromadjacent the outer periphery of said body free to move vertically uponflexing of the thermostatic element, an extension arm directl y gonmeeting the movable end of said thermostatic element with the upper endof said valve stem 'is actuated upwardly, wherebl said last-named valveis maintained in open position in opposition to said resilient urgingmeans when the thermostatic element is flexed upwardly but closessimultaneously with the main burner valve whenever the pilot lightbecomes extinguished.

2. A gas burning apparatus according to claim 1 including means forvarying the length of the connecting rod between the thermostatic 'ele-iment and the said'last-named valve to permit adjustment for securingsimultaneous closure of the valves.

WILMER E. McCORQUODALE REFERENCES CITED The following references are ofrecord in the,

file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENT Germany Sept. '22,

